The hunger for creativity to make it fizz, bubble and pop
In these times of the new normal, where #wfh is the standard, much focus has been put on keeping motivated and focused. However, what about the fizz, bubble and pop? With that I mean, the bursts of creativity. When your surroundings are the same every day, when the people you meet face to face are your own family members, it's difficult to renew that creative energy. It's a different type of energy than the focused energy, but there are similarities of course. Both are based on getting in the flow: it's the feeling that things just go naturally. This flow needs to be nurtured. But how do you get into this flow when there are no new stimuli around you? Like many people who work creatively, a large part of being able to "create" is just by thinking about things. Mulling things over, sitting on ideas and igniting sparks of creativity bursts that make things happen and click.
Feed us
Creative people will understand this, we need to be fed. Feed us! With what you might ask? Well, we need to get our creative juices flowing, so we need creative impulses. Needless to say, the day museums reopened in Amsterdam, I booked a timeslot for the Van Gogh museum. To experience it now, with limited visitors, was wonderful, especially to be able to watch all those masterpieces up close and personal. I felt a bit like the pieces of things that I value were put back together. Another thing that inspires me, is that I love to watch people and listen - listening to other people's conversations often inspires me in writing. The words they choose, the way they use them and the emphasis they might put on certain words. I love taking long walks, as many others do now too, and it allows me to watch and listen to others. The long walks are great for exercise, you see and hear more around you and you are more in tune with the world.
To feed them feeds me
So many things are now available to us virtually. But taking things through a screen can be a bit tiring. Nothing meets the feeling of being in awe as when standing in front of an art piece that's bigger than your wall at home, or walking around a sculpture and seeing all the details that went into creating it. But why not start making your own creations at home? If ever it was the time to pick up those pencils, brushes or clay - that time is now. So far I made, two paper-maché "artworks", painted, drew, origami-ed, numerous fluffy pompoms and picked up knitting again. Working with your hands is fun. My passion for home cooking has taken to another level, as I now actually have more time to try new things. I've been grabbing more and more cookbooks off my own shelves to read as inspiration (sometimes just as a laptop stand #noshame). For me, a way to show love and keep my sanity is by making food for my people.
And in the end, that's it: love yourself, love others, keep your health and sanity up.....and the fizz, bubble and pop will flow naturally.